The Paul Chavy Saint-Romain La Perrière 2022 is a chardonnay from the La Perrière lieu-dit in Saint-Romain, high in the Côte de Beaune hills of Burgundy. Grown on very limestone-rich soil, it is a taut, mid-weight white where citrus and stony freshness lead rather than richness.

Aromatics open on white peach, lemon pith and green apple, with a chalky, flinty edge underneath and a faint whiff of hazelnut and toasted grain from time in barrel. The palate follows the nose closely: nectarine and grapefruit through the middle, a savoury almond note towards the back, nothing sweet or showy.

Fermented with indigenous yeasts and aged in 350-litre barrels with only 15% new oak, the 2022 wears its wood lightly. Acidity runs straight down the centre of the wine and the texture is fine rather than creamy, with just enough weight across the mid-palate to carry the length. The finish is dry, mineral and long, closing on lemon rind and wet stone.

Serve it with roast chicken, grilled whiting or flathead, scallops, a leek and gruyère tart, or a plate of oysters if you want the mineral side of Saint-Romain to sing. It also handles creamy pasta and soft goat's cheese without being smothered.

Drinking well now with an hour in the decanter, and it should hold and build texture through to about 2030.